Pump valve structure



April 24, 19.62 c. J. GRIFFITH ETAL 3,030,978

PUMP VALVE STRUCTURE Original Filed Oct. 13, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F'IEi1 INVENTORS CLIFFORD J. GRIFFITH JAMES R CARR ATTORNEY C. J. GRIFFITHETAL April 24, 1962 PUMP VALVE STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FiledOct. 13, 1954 mu -WHIP mvzn'rons CLIFFORD J. GRIFFITH .umss P. CARR avMW, W-

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,030,978 Patented Apr. 24, 1962 Thisinvention relates to pumps and more particularly to improved means forcontrolling the flow of fluid through a reciprocating pump.

This application is a division of applicants copending applicationSerial No. 462,002, filed October 13, 1954 which issued October 21,1958, as US. Patent No. 2,857,219, and is entitled Pump.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved valvearrangement for a reciprocating pump.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve assembly for areciprocating pump, which valve assembly is simple in construction.

Another object is to provide a valve assembly for a reciprocating pump,which valve assembly is unusually efiicient in operation.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description, read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a pump incorporating the valve arrangement ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevation taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1,inlet and discharge conduits for the valve structure being shown insection.

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken along the lines 33 of FIG. 2.

In FIGURE 1, the reference numeral indicates a hollow pump housinghaving opposed side walls 12 and opposed end walls 13 (only one sidewall and one end wall being shown). All four of the walls of the housingare integrally formed and have upper, inwardly inclined portions 14connected at their upper ends by an integrally formed top wall 15.Mounted within the housing 10 is a reciprocating pumping mechanism whichis disclosed in the aforementioned copending application Serial No.462,002. The pumping mechanism is driven by a crank shaft 20 journaledin the lower ends of the housing walls 12.

The pumping mechanism is provided with two identical verticallyextending piston rods 30, the upper end of one of said rods being shownin FIG. 3. A piston assembly 35 is mounted at the upper end of eachpiston rod and is arranged for sliding movement in contact with acylinder 36 provided by the internal surface of a sleeve 37. Each sleeve37 is disposed at its upper end in a recess 40 in a pumping head 41, andat its lower end in a recess 43 in a mounting plate 44 supported on andsecured to the upper surface of a wall 45 which is integrally formed onthe housing and extends around the upper portion of the pump mechanism(FIG. 1).

When the crank shaft 20 is rotated by a power mechanism (not shown), thepiston assemblies 35 are reciprocated within the cylinders 36. Thepistons are 180 out of phase, so that one piston will be in its suctionstroke while the other is in its discharge stroke.

The pumping head 41 is secured on the upper end of the pump housing bybolts 48 (FIG. 2) that extend through suitable openings in the pumpinghead and are threaded into tapped openings in the mounting plate 44. Thepumping head 41 has two flow passages or pumping chambers 50 and 50a(FIGS. 2 and 3), each of which extends between one of the pump cylinders36 and a respective cylindrical valve chamber 52. Each valve chamber 52is in flow communication with an inlet passage 60 through a port 61 andwith a discharge passage 63 through a port 64. Both of the inletpassages 60 (FIG. 2) are in communication with a common inlet conduit 66through an internally threaded opening 67 (FIG. 1) which receives oneend of the conduit. Similarly, both discharge passages 63 communicatewith a common discharge conduit 68 through an opening 69 (FIG. 1) inwhich the conduit 68 is threaded.

A novel valve assembly is provided for controlling the flow of liquidfrom each inlet passage 60 to the associated discharge passage 63.Inasmuch as the two valve assemblies are identical in structure, onlyone is shown (FIG. 3) and described. This valve assembly comprises anannular inlet valve seat 70 arranged to fit snugly in a recess 71 in thepumping head 41. The valve seat has an outer annular groove 73 in whicha resilient O-ring 75 is disposed in sealing engagement between thewalls of the groove 73 and the wall of the recess 71. Resting on top ofthe seat 70 is a cylindrical cage 78 which has a plurality of verticalslots 79 through which fluid may pass. A solid valve disk 81 ispositioned over the central opening of the annular valve seat '70 toclose the passage formed therein. A coil spring 83 is seated at itslower end in a recess formed in the valve disk 81 and bears at its upperend against an annular discharge valve seat 85 Which is snugly disposedin the port 64 formed in the pumping head. An O-ring 88 is disposed inan annular groove in the discharge valve seat 85 in sealing engagementbetween the outer surface of the valve seat 85 and the inner surface ofthe port 64. A solid valve disk 90 is positioned over the centralopening of the annular valve seat 85 to close the passage formedtherein. A coil spring 91 is seated at its lower end in a recess formedin the valve disk 90 and bears at its upper end against a cylindricalcover 92 which is disposed in a cylindrical opening 93 provided in thepumping head. A discharge cage 95 rests on top of the discharge valveseat 85 with its lower end extending into the port 64 in the pumpinghead 41. The cage 95 has a plurality of slots 96 through: which liquidmay pass. A resilient O-ring 97 is disposed in an annular groove in thecover 92 in sealing engagement between the cover and the pumping head. Abar 99 (FIG. 2) extends across the top of the pump housing and bearsagainst both valve covers 92 to hold the two valve assemblies in place.The bar 99 is locked in position by a capscrew 100 which extends throughthe bar and is threadedly received in the pumping head 41.

Referring to FIG. 3 it will be seen that when the piston 35 movesdownwardly in its suction stroke, the inlet valve disk 81 is lifted fromthe seat 70, permitting liquid to enter the cage 78 and pass through theslots 79 of the cage 78 into the flow passage 50 and then into thecylinder 36. When the piston moves upwardly in its discharge stroke, thevalve disk 81 is forced down onto its seat 70, while the discharge valvedisk 90 is forced oil its seat 85, permitting the liquid to be forcedthrough the slotted discharge cage 95 and out through the dischargeconduit 68.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that there is providedin the present invention a simple, eflective valve arrangement focontrolling the flow of liquid through a pump.

It will be understood that modifications and variations of theembodiment of the invention disclosed herein may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the scope of the novel concepts of the invention.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed as new anddesired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. A valve for a reciprocating pump comprising a valve housing having acylindrical bore therein of uniform diameter, means defining an inletand a discharge passage in communication with the bore at spaced pointsalong the length thereof, a first symmetrical annulus disposed in saidbore and peripherally sealed thereto for defining an inlet port fromsaid inlet passage into the middle region of said bore, an inlet valvedisk disposed over said inlet port, a first cage disposed in said boremiddle region with one end thereof abutting said first symmetricalannulus, a second symmetrical annulus disposed in said bore andperipherally sealed thereto for defining a discharge port from said boremiddle region into said discharge passage, said second symmetricalannulus being disposed in abutting relation with the other end of saidfirst cage, 21 first spring disposed between said inlet valve disk andsaid second symmetrical annulus for urging the inlet disk to close theinlet port, a discharge valve disk disposed over said discharge port, asecond cage disposed in said bore with one end thereof abutting saidsecond symmetrical annulus, a cover member disposed over said bore andabutting the other end of said second cage and rigidly connected to saidhousing for positively locating said first and second cages and saidfirst and second symmetrical annuli within said bore, and a secondspring disposed between said discharge valve disk and said cover forurging the discharge valve disk to close the discharge port, wherebyfluid flows from the inlet to the discharge passage in response to afluid pressure differential Which causes said valves to open between thebore middle region.

2. In a pump valve structure, the combination comprising a housing witha cylindrical valve chamber of uniform bore open at one end having acoaxial inlet port of smaller diameter at the other end and with flowpassage and discharge ports located therebetween, an inner valve struc-4 ture inserted through said open end and stacked in operative position,said inner valve structure comprising a symmetrical annulus fittingaround said inlet port in sealable relationship with the periphery ofsaid cylindrical valve chamber forming an inlet valve seat, an inletvalve disk resting upon said inlet valve seat covering said inlet port,a spring resting on said inlet valve disk, a slotted cylindrical cagesurrounding said spring and disk resting on said inlet valve seat, adischarge valve seat formed by a symmetrical annulus sealably engagingthe periphery of said cylindrical valve chamber above said flow passageand resting upon said slotted cylindrical cage thus compressing saidspring, a discharge valve disk resting on said discharge valve seat, aspring resting on said discharge valve disk, a slotted cylindrical cageresting upon said discharge valve seat surrounding said spring and disk,and a valve cover sealing the open end of said cylindrical valve chamberand holding said inner valve structure in a compressed operatingrelationship, said inner valve structure being readily removable uponremoval of said valve cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS272,198 Blessing Feb. 13, 1883 1,983,163 Buckman Dec. 4, 1934 2,007,677Farmer July 9, 1935 2,192,425 Allen et al Mar. 5, 1940 2,282,490 MartinMay 12, 1942 2,304,991 Foster Dec. 15, 1942 2,306,012 Campbell Dec. 22,1942 2,797,704 McDermott et a1. July 2, 1957 2,845,085 Robbins July 29,1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 185,448 Great Britain Sept. 6, 1922 18,294 HollandJuly 16, 1928 853,367 Germany Oct. 23, 1952

